Getting to the Motorhome dealers today made me think of our Sat.Nav. plans for our trip.

Now whilst our navigation with a map whilst driving is fairly good, it has also been known to cause more than the occasional argument. This I believe to be a genetic trait. Anyway today was no different, though unusually amicable.

I’ve been trying to work out for the last couple of weeks what is for us, the best affordable GPS based navigation system. The main choice was, a standalone GPS or a PDA based system.
As you do, I spent ages reading the alleged pros and cons of numerous systems before deciding that either approach was equally valid. Pricewise they are similar so I’ve opted for the PDA system.

Ebay last night was kind enough to provide a Bluetooth GPS and Navteq software for the whole of Europe for under £80. So once I find a Dell Axim X30 or X50 at the right price, there should be no more arguments.

Oh, and with the PDA’s wifi and bluetooth we’ll be able to use it as internet browser and allow it to send stuff via the phone to this blog. Costly but cool.

Headed down to near Derby today to have a look at yet more MH’s.

We were hoping that they (Don Amott) would have one of the Autoroller garage models for us to have a look at. They didn’t, but all was not lost as they did have a Ci Riviera 181 Garage and an Elnagh Marlin 65 Garage. Both of which have loads of storage plus a raised double bed above, though not as pokey as an overcab double.

Below - the Riviera’s rear bed.

We reckon that the layout of these garage models are just what we are looking for.

Yipee.

This weekend gone, we visited a number of Motorhome dealers with a view to deciding exactly which layout we would like for our forthcoming acommodation.

Previous visits to dealers had suggested that a rear kitchen type layout and a 4/5 berth would do the trick. This time though we gave a little more thought to the need for storage of our bikes and the kid’s toys and concluded that something a bit larger, with a garage would be better.

The term garage is somewhat misleading really, think 1 by 1 metre times the width of the camper, basically room for the bikes out of sight of prying eyes.

Look at the pic below at the rear.
..and here is a front view while we’re on the subject

The model is called the Autoroller Garage made by www.rollerteam.it part of the Trigano group.

Quite clever really, as above the garage is a double bed.

Our original budget was for 10 - 15K, which we thought should locate a reasonable secondhand vehicle, though it seems that the campers with garages are not that common, especially in the UK. On the continent they are not so uncommon and even though they are more than the £15K, they are available in Germany, so much cheaper than over here.

Now I know the quality of the fittings will not be as good as the more expensive motorhomes, yet I’d much prefer a new or very nearly new import. to the 11 year old Hymer with 110K miles on the clock that the dealer had £16,500 on last Saturday.

If there is time at the weekend we’ll try to look at one at a dealer over here